Dragon Bravo Fire
2025
They are nothing short of heartbreaking, the fires on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
We should not confuse finger pointing with a legitimate search for answers. Our heartbreak and concern has nothing to do with political ideology.
Clearly, something went terribly, terribly wrong on the nights of July 11th and 12th.
And yet The National Park Service defends its handling of the Dragon Bravo Fire.
By any measure, it failed to protect a national treasure, The Grand Canyon Lodge. This failure, as the park service admits, is the result of unanticipated weather, specifically overnight winds.
All of us who live in the west know all too well how capricious the wind can be.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody dropped the ball. Proof lies in the ashes of the lodge.
Did some of the National Park Service people disagree with the decision to treat the fire as a controlled burn, crackling away for days before winds sent it leaping across containment lines? Were their voices heard? How were decisions made, with what data and in what context?
Did we rely too much on burns of the past to assess burns of the present?
Was this tragedy the result of inadequate staffing and budgeting?
Why is the public fed such despicable drivel about management of the Dragon Bravo Fire by the National Park Service?
NPS spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz says the fire was “expertly handled.”
We have lost so much on the canyon’s North Rim.
And for many of us, something else has been lost… trust in the ability of the National Park Service to safeguard our nation’s most prized treasures. Sadly, this trust has gone the way of The Grand Canyon Lodge.
We hope the NPS will regain our confidence and respect, and mistakes as grievous as this will never again take place.
